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Ole Boy at Prayer
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Black to move and mate in 3.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
As I write, my guy Wesley So is battling against Hikaru Nakamura in the quarterfinals of the Speed Chess (5 min) Championship which has implications for a spot in London next February. Commentators are leaning to Hiraku, but I am sticking to my guns.
A statement in which the Apostolic Nunciature of GB does not actually deny the accuracy of anything being reported about the future application of TC. If anything, the phrase "regret for the unauthorised disclosure of information" seems to imply the info was broadly accurate…! pic.twitter.com/OdKLg7mnqs
— Matthew Hazell (@M_P_Hazell) November 17, 2025
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Black to move and mate in 3
1) … Rh5+
2) gxh5 (forced) g5+
3) fxg5 (forced) hxg5 mate
Wesley put up a darn good fight, but Hikaru is too much in this format for just about anyone…
The SCC is to my mind the best chess event for spectators – the extended play between two players (vs. a few games among many pairs) leads to a fun competitive dynamic, the 5+1 especially is long enough you get quality chess but short enough the commentators don’t have to speak on hushed tones as they ramble off potential lines, and the knockout format can be more exciting than the slow development of a round-robin winner.
So the “Noonch” is a spinmeister ;-)
Rome Shot: Chapel of St. Zeno
HERE
The CBCEW is an order of magnitude less than the USCCB, yet we still have our fair share of… traditional minded, conservative, super-dooper liberal nut jobs and +McButterpants style Bishops abound. Also, the Nuncio has to deal with the CBCS (all 8 of them north of the border, bless ’em). It must be like threading a needle with mooring chain.